Elysium Mons

Elysium Mons
2001 Mars Odyssey THEMIS daytime infrared image mosaic
Coordinates 25°01′N 147°13′E / 25.02°N 147.21°E / 25.02; 147.21Coordinates: 25°01′N 147°13′E / 25.02°N 147.21°E / 25.02; 147.21[1]
Peak 13.9 kilometres (46,000 ft) above plains
16 kilometres (52,000 ft) above datum
Discoverer Mariner 9

Elysium Mons is a volcano on Mars located in the volcanic province Elysium, at 25°01′N 147°13′E / 25.02°N 147.21°E / 25.02; 147.21, in the Martian eastern hemisphere. It stands about 13.9 km (46,000 ft) above the surrounding lava plains, and about 16 km (52,000 ft) above the Martian datum. Its diameter is about 240 km (150 mi), with a summit caldera about 14 km (8.7 mi) across. It is flanked by the smaller volcanoes Hecates Tholus to the northeast, and Albor Tholus to the southeast.

Discovery

Elysium Mons was discovered in 1972 in images returned by the Mariner 9 orbiter.

Terrestrial analog

The terrestrial volcano Emi Koussi (in Chad) has been studied as an analog of Elysium Mons. The two shield volcanoes have summit calderas of similar size, but Elysium Mons is 3.5 times larger in diameter and 6 times higher than its counterpart on Earth.

Possible source of nakhlites

A 6.5 km diameter crater at 29.674 N, 130.799 E, in the volcanic plains to the northwest of Elysium Mons has been identified as a possible source for the nakhlite meteorites, a family of similar basaltic Martian meteorites with cosmogenic ages of about 10.7 Ma, suggesting ejection from Mars by a single impact event. The dates of the igneous rocks of the nakhlites range from 1416 ± 7 Ma to 1322 ± 10 Ma. These dates plus the crater dimensions suggest a growth rate of the source volcano during that interval of 0.4–0.7 m per Ma, far slower than would be expected for a terrestrial volcano. This implies that Martian volcanism had slowed greatly by that point in history.[2]

Interactive Mars map

Acidalia PlanitiaAcidalia PlanitiaAlba MonsAmazonis PlanitiaAonia TerraArabia TerraArcadia PlanitiaArcadia PlanitiaArgyre PlanitiaElysium MonsElysium PlanitiaHellas PlanitiaHesperia PlanumIsidis PlanitiaLucas PlanumLyot (crater)Noachis TerraOlympus MonsPromethei TerraRudaux (crater)Solis PlanumTempe TerraTerra CimmeriaTerra SabaeaTerra SirenumTharsis MontesUtopia PlanitiaValles MarinerisVastitas BorealisVastitas BorealisMap of Mars
The image above contains clickable linksInteractive imagemap of the global topography of Mars. Hover your mouse to see the names of over 25 prominent geographic features, and click to link to them. Coloring of the base map indicates relative elevations, based on data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. Reds and pinks are higher elevation (+3 km to +8 km); yellow is 0 km; greens and blues are lower elevation (down to −8 km). Whites (>+12 km) and browns (>+8 km) are the highest elevations. Axes are latitude and longitude; Poles are not shown.
(See also: Mars Rovers map) (view • discuss)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Elysium Mons". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. ↑ Cohen, B. E.; Mark, D. F.; Cassata, W. S.; Lee, M. R.; Tomkinson, T.; Smith, C. L. (2017). "Taking the pulse of Mars via dating of a plume-fed volcano". Nature Communications. 8 (1). Bibcode:2017NatCo...8..640C. doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00513-8.
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